Olympic Games from a Medical Perspective

I’ve been enthralled watching the Winter Olympics! The physical feats seem impossible, and the mental strength required is impressive. From a medical perspective, the likelihood of injuries is high, including serious injuries. And bringing people from all over the...

What?? Bacteria Talk To Each Other?

I just got back from one of my favorite events: The annual Creativity Conference at Sea Island, GA. There, famous entomologist Mark Moffett brings together an eclectic group of scientists, artists, naturalists, musicians, writers, and more, for two days of talks on...

Let’s Remember an Unsung Hero

Godfrey Oakley died just three months ago, in October 2025. He is a hero who changed the lives of thousands of people, yet most folks have never heard of him. I certainly have. He grew up in my hometown, Greenville, North Carolina, went to the same high school I did,...

Operating Room Lights and Snow Globes

If you’ve ever tried to hold a flashlight for someone while they work under the hood of a car, you understand the importance of good lighting. The inside of a human body is a dark place, and surgeons need a lot of light to see what they are doing. Ever wonder how...

What Was Wrong With Tiny Tim?

A Christmas Carol, a novella of 30,000 words, was written by Charles Dickens in six weeks in 1843. It has never gone out of print. The book’s sustained success has contributed to how Christmas is celebrated and introduced the phrases “Merry Christmas” and “Bah!...

Christmas in a Children’s Hospital

In December, the questions parents ask in the hospital are different. Instead of “Will my child be OK?”, we pediatric hospitalists hear: “We have plane tickets to go skiing for Christmas. Will he be well by then?” “She’ll be home for Christmas, right? We’ve never been...